Adel Chaoui, whose cousin Farah Hamdan as well as her husband Omar Belkadi are still missing - along with their six -month-old baby, told The Telegraph of the horrific struggle the family has faced in trying to find them.

He said protocol means hospitals and authorities are not allowed to give out information, and they have had to beg for scraps of news from sympathetic nurses and police officers, who implored him to keep quiet about their identities lest they get in trouble for helping.

His cousin's children, two girls aged six and seven, were eventually found in hospital yesterday after a gruelling search - with no help from authorities.

The children, one of whom is in a coma and the other, who is sedated because of trauma, were in the same hospital, unidentified.

Tazmin Belkadi, 6, was found in hospitalCredit:
Family of Tazmin Belkadi

Mr Chaoui told The Telegraph: "We have a six and an eight-year-old - one is traumatised and the other is in a coma. When she went into hospital she was just screaming. And rather than trying to identify who these children are and who their parents are, protocol means they can't identify them at this time.

"We have had no help from the police, we understand that they're busy but they've got casualties in the hospitals.

"People are having to make contact with the hospitals themselves who are being told they cant get any information.

"My family has been round all the hospitals asking for anyone who matches the descriptions.

"One took pity on us and gave us information and lo and behold it was one of the children who was missing.

"Our brother is wandering around the wards around and sees at a child two beds down and found that it was her sibling.

"One of them is in a coma, and the other wouldn't stop screaming because she was so traumatised so has been sedated.

"The hospitals had no idea who these children were- they didn't even realise they were related".

He said the authorities are following protocol they follow in a terrorist attack, when they need to have protocol in place for civil disasters.

He says: "The police are following protocol they have in place during terrorist incidents. "There needs to be separate protocol for civil disasters. That's what's going wrong here.

"They're still treating everyone as suspects."

Farah Hamdan and her baby are missing along with her husband Credit:
Family handout

Families hoping for news from missing loved ones have had to run around London from hospital to hospital, with no help from police and no centralised police service.

The angry family of missing 12-year-old Jessica Urbano have complained of the lack of help they have received.

Her aunt Sandra Ruiz wrote to Sadiq Khan, saying: "We the families of the missing need a named liason officer who can keep us directly informed and can assist in our search.

"Yesterday, 12 members of my family visited the rescue centres as well as all the main London hospitals several times, while others were on the emergency lines.

"We are still not aware of the whereabouts of my niece. The emergency line gives no information nor do the hospitals. Families are running from one hospital to another in desperation."

She also wrote of the "chaos" caused as hospitals are swamped with worried relatives and "relying on pen and paper". Ms Ruiz said the families feel "helpless".

Mr Chaoui said he understands police are busy keeping people safe, but wonders why protocol means they can't reunite children with their families.

He said: "Effectively it was us trawling our ward to find our family - it's the protocol that means we can't be helped.

"Whats the point of following the regulations if they're wrong?

"The protocols right now is to not contact anyone - ask anybody who has a missing relative and they'd say 'I'd rather go to Spain to try and find my relative or help someone find their relative than just have no information at all'. We just want to be able to do something."

Mr Chaoui also spoke of how a female police officer eventually helped him when they got her sympathy and told their tragic tale - but that she was terrified of getting caught and reprimanded.

He said: "Eventually people are giving you the information and it's on a very hush-hush basis.

"It's all very cagey. First they try and push you away and eventually we get some information but only after we get their sympathies.

"I saw a casualty list for one of the hospitals and it was given to me by a police officer - she said she was scared of getting told off and they didn't want the hospital or force to get identified

"They respond after a long conversation and they are feeling for you."

"The worst part is this casualty line - it's a glorified answering machine. No one has got any information from it. We just want anything from them. It'll stop us running around trawling all the hospitals.

"We must have rung tens of times and every time they'd be so sympathetic and say they'd pass on our details but we got nothing, no contact back whatsoever from them. That's us making the effort to call. I'm sure it's the same for everyone else - it's a disaster what's happened".

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: "Hundreds of calls have so far been received by casualty bureau and we have a team working around the clock to answer calls.

"We appreciate people may have difficulty getting through but we urge them to keep trying. We are picking up messages and will respond.

"As Commander Stuart Cundy has said, this is an incredibly challenging and complex situation affecting a large number of people and all the emergency services are working extremely hard.

"We do have officers at all the reception centres and our thoughts are with those affected. We understand the worry and frustration people are feeling and are striving to help them as quickly as possible."